Not to be that person, but I was doing sheet masks on planes before it was mainstream. The year: 2016. Place: the second leg of an American Airlines flight. Occasion: a family trip to Cabo San Lucas. My older sister, seated next to me, watched in horror as I peeled open a Sephora Collection mask (of the rose variety, obviously, for its moisturizing properties) and applied it my visage mid-flight.
The online beauty community, in all of its openness and its frontiersman spirit, has over the past year or two normalized the ritual on mid-flight beauty routines. I’m also convinced the miniatures lined up at the Sephora checkout section was staged in partnership with some major air travel conglomerate. However, the perils of drying airplane air on one’s complexion is no conspiracy, so in the spirit of the busiest travel season of the year, I’ve rounded up our favorite travel-friendly beauty products. Bonus: they’re all available in travel size so they won’t get confiscated by TSA.
1. Flaunt by Lauren Napier cleansing wipes
These wipes are individually packaged and will take up amazingly little space inside your carry-on cosmetics case. They’re packed with nourishing fruit extracts tailored to prevent the havoc extended travel can wreak on your complexion. I can also attest to their ability to remove light face and eye makeup!
Imagine the stuffy smell of stagnant airplane cabin air. Now, imagine luxuriating in a decadent cloud of hydrating rose and coconut water. Not only does this all-natural mist smell lovely (and not overpowering, might I add), it also preps clean skin for the moisturizer that follows.
This whipped cream moisturizer layers beautifully with oil and serums even when you’re not cruising at an altitude of 3000 feet. It’s formulated specifically for stressed out skin, so it’s instantly soothing and it absorbs quickly for a no-mess, no-fuss application.
If you, like myself, prefer to look like oil slick prior to your nighty slumber, then these mini facial oil droppers come highly recommended. The dropper makes these easy to apply, so if you’re stuck in your seat because the stranger sitting in the aisle has fallen asleep and you’re too shy to wake him up, your skin won’t suffer.
If you thought a standard lip balm was going to cut it, you thought wrong. This mask is meant to be worn overnight, but it also serves well as an intense lip treatment, even if you don’t catch some z’s on your trip.
I also hope you remembered to pick up one of those huge 1.5 liter European water bottles before you boarded you flight home, because those tiny little cups the flight attendants hand out aren’t going to cut it! Key learnings? Hydration, from the inside out, is the trick to make sure you return from your holiday travels looking as radiant on the surface as those days off make you feel on the inside.
